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Thursday, November 15, 2012

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - Novmber 2012

Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6a garden in central Indiana, we've had more than one killing frost so outdoor blooms are scarce and most of the leaves have fallen from the trees.

In the lawn, a few volunteer violas, seedlings of violas planted last spring or earlier, are blooming. They seem to be oblivious to the frost, the grass around them and the occasional mower blade that is set just high enough to avoid cutting them off.

They make me want to buy up packets of viola seeds and cast them about the lawn to see if more will show up.

Elsewhere in the garden, the asters, which in past years were still showing a bit of color in mid-November, are completely brown now.

I should really cut these down now, or by spring time I will have thousands of aster seedlings throughout the garden.

I'm less concerned about tall sedums self-sowing so I'll leave these seed heads standing for the winter.

We like to tell ourselves that these dried up flowers look good with tufts of snow on them in the winter-time.

You might think that there will be no more blooms in my garden until spring. That used to be true, but now I have Helleborus niger growing in my garden.

It is known to many as the Christmas Rose because it blooms through the wintertime. It already has at least one bud on it, giving me hope that I and my garden won't be bloomless until spring.

Inside where it is warm, the Thanksgiving cactus is poised to bloom.

It should be in full bloom right on schedule for Thanksgiving, one week from today.

How's your garden blooming on this mid-November day?

We would love to have you join in for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day and tell us all about what is blooming in your garden on the 15th of the month.

It’s easy to participate and all are invited!

Just post on your blog about what is blooming in your garden on the 15th of the month and leave a comment below to tell us what you have waiting for us to see so we can pay you a virtual visit. Then put your name and the url to your post on the Mr. Linky widget below to make it easy to find you.

“We can have flowers nearly every month of the year.” ~ Elizabeth Lawrence

How lovely that you have Hellebore buds already, I have shoots, but no buds yet. Funny you call the plant Thanksgiving cactus, in Norway, where I am from we call it Christmas cactus - translated to English :-)Thanks for hosting GBBD again!

Our gardens also had our first frost last week, but tucked under foliage a few blooms remained. Your Christmas cactus is ready to burst with blooms--mine just opened two flowers yesterday! Happy GBBD to you!

You still have some nice color going on in your garden even after the frost with your sedum and violas. Winter is quickly approaching here as well so we are holding onto the last of color. Thank you for hosting and a happy GBBD to you!

Hello Gardeners!I am here for the first time and say: "Happy Bloggers Bloom Day from Austria."We also had a very early killing frost, so there are not many flowers left - but enough to fight the beginning winter depression. I love the idea of the GBBD, thanks for inventing it!Best wishesElis

I love hellebores, they multiply happily and flower often when few others are flowering. It is quite a decision when to cut back the seedheads. I've decided to leave it as long as I can bear to this year, partly for the wildlife but also just to see what will happen. Thanks for the meme Carole, I really look forward to the 15th of every month. cheers, catmint

Violas give such good value at this time of the year. I'm experimenting with their perennial properties - we usually grow them as an annual over here, but I've cut mine back to see what will happen over the winter. Hopefully I'll be able to show you the results sometime in the next few months :)

Happy November to you. We are in the thick of fall color right now and no frosts or freezes, yet. Whenever they do show their cold heads around here, we southerners are always surprised even if it is expected. Thank you again for hosting.

Happy GBBD everyone! Your Thanksgiving cactus is beautiful. That little viola in your lawn is such a little gem; Ican see why you want more. We had a night temperature of 30 degrees a few days ago but there weren't frost crystals on the plants. Some of the begonias/impatiens are mush but others are just fine and most of the plants didn't seem to notice.

My scabiosa is still blooming in Indianapolis. One of my cactus started blooming early, so it's done. I'm waiting for the other one to begin. Unfortunately, my dendrobium has not set any flowerstocks. Last year and the previous year, it was in full bloom at Thanksgivin g.

My Lenten Roses aren't setting buds as yet. How exciting to find some budding. I will have to go take a closer look. Maybe mine are just buried under leaves. I like the idea of just scattering seeds of violas in the lawn. I will have to try that. Happy GBBD.

There is never enough time to record the beauty of the moment, but I have tried to leave us a record of a long and beautiful autumn, colorful trees, bare trees, views close up and from far away. So much beauty, so little time! God bless and Happy Thanksgiving!

Alas, the only blooms I have today is a tiny pot of white cyclamen that fell under a shelf outside that I found earlier this fall. Though totally neglected for months, it is now producing 4 (unphotographed) blooms.

Love those sedums over the winter, Carol! It's nice to have the seed heads collecting snow, and I like them even bare. Your Thanksgiving cactus looks very promising! Ours is blooming right on time this year for a change. It seems to think it's a Christmas cactus!

I'm envious of your Christmas Rose! Ours is pretty young, and so far it seems to prefer blooming in early spring. I was happy to see a few seedlings this year, and surprised they survived the drought - tough plants! Happy Bloom Day!

Just about made it before the end of the 15th! It gets tougher as the winter starts to take its grip. Roll on Spring! In the meantime, it is wonderful to be able to see the GBBD blogs from the other side of the hemisphere who are just entering their Spring. Thank you for hosting this great monthly meme

Late again! But have a good excuse -- was at a Trees Matter" Conference all day. I too leave my sedum seedheads up all winter -- right now they are mostly pinks and burgyndy hues and will finally dry to russet browns.

I applaud your willingness to let the Violas grow in the lawn. I find them charming. This November Bloom Day is rather disappointing, and I am glad to put the garden to bed and hope for a better season next year. I did manage to get a Bloom Day post done with some actual, outdoor blooms, but, as in your garden, they are few and paltry. Happy Bloom Day!

Thank you for hosting GBBD: outdoor blooms have dwindled in my upstate NY garden too but my Christmas Cactus is much further along than yours. I bought a yellow one in bud last week so maybe I can feature that next month.

Surprising number of blossoms in my yard this November. There are also blossoms on my Thanksgiving Cactus, but I'd have to call it an October to January Cactus. The first blooms usually emerge before Halloween. Those wither and fall off, and a second wave starts around Thanksgiving. A final round of flowers emerges near Christmas. There's an ugly heap of petals below the windowsill that I need to clean up before Thanksgiving.

Thanks for hosting Carol, I'm sure the Hellebore will give you a lot of pleasure. But surely there must be lots of other plants that would flower for you in winter? Christinahttp://myhesperidesgarden.wordpress.com/2012/11/16/gbbd-still-feels-like-spring/

Hi Carol,Well, this is about as late as I've ever been in posting to this collection. Just couldn't keep my eyes open last night. We've had some mild frosts in Maryland but the temperatures have been warmer than normal. Lots still hanging on and springtime performers starting to jump the gun...

Well what A hectic weeks it's been, school exams are going nuts which is why I was so late in GBBD-ing, I was worried I was going to miss it, as per usual I have the photo heavy post, but also a bit of info about what's been happening in the garden, school and about my very cool and exciting surprise that I got this afternoon, you'll just have to read my post to find out what it was :), Michael - Australia

Here in South Dakota along the Missouri River, the days are moderate and nights are cool. Few leaves are left on the deciduous trees but spruces, pines, and too abundant Eastern red cedar show up more. I like the subtle part of fall. Prairie grasses, displaying reds and golds are now dominant as last maple leaves fall. Carol, it is amazing the diversity of plant life on your and others blogs in mid November.

Hi Carol,I left my Thanksgiving cactus on the porch where it set buds and now i'm afraid to bring it in because I don't want the buds to drop from the heat in the house! It seems to like the cool fine, but I don't...will have to enjoy it from the kitchen window. Happy (belated) Bloom Day!

Happy belated Bloom Day to Carol and all the other gardeners present! Finally made my post.

As mentioned by others, I love leaving up the seed heads that will catch snow and provide snacks for the birds. This year, I did try to cut back lilies, hostas, and some other sans-seed head varieties to eliminate some spring cleanup. We'll see if it was worth the effort. ^_^

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